specialist Su Tzu-yun, on the Chinese balloon

The DHL Balloon was the world's largest tethered helium balloon 02/03/2023 Pentagon said that a Chinese high-altitude balloon flying over the U.S. had the capability to conduct surveillance and was controllable, despite China's contention….  a nuclear missile silo at Malmstrom Air Force Base in northern Montana, near the Canadian border, one of the most sensitive U.S. military installations, equipped with siloed nuclear weapons.  According to the Defense Department, “instances of this activity has been observed, including prior to this administration..”…. Chinese high-altitude balloons are not a rare phenomenon and have been detected many times in East Asia. They appeared four times in Taiwan’s airspace in February and March last year. A balloon with a cross-shaped object was spotted flying over the northeastern region of Japan in 2020. At that time the Japanese Ministry of Defense said that it was closely monitoring the balloon. The balloon in the latest Montana incident was released “probably not for the purpose of taking pictures because satellites can do that job but to test U.S. air defense radar and collect various U.S. electronic intelligence,” said 

Su Tzu-yun, a military expert from Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Strategy Research, a government think tank.

JY-400 tethered reconnaissance balloon at the 2018 Zhuhai Air Show in China. (Credit: Taiwan’s Central News Agency) “By observing the movements of this balloon, as well as electronic communications of the datalink they can examine the real intention of the People’s Liberation Army,” said the Taiwanese military expert, describing it as “the art of intelligence.”  In recent years, China has been developing new types of balloons and spacecraft. The Aviation Industry Corporation of China last year registered three special-configuration hot air balloons that the manufacturer said were designed for civilian use but can also be deployed for surveillance. For their part, U.S. companies have also been making high-altitude military-grade balloons for reconnaissance and communication purposes, especially in areas that lack satellite coverage.  Experts say balloons are cheaper than satellites and have a longer cruising time in the air. They can move slowly and observe specific areas for a long period. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-balloon-02032023035704.html ................... The Department of Defense acknowledged a second Chinese surveillance craft transiting airspace somewhere over Latin America late Friday. https://dailycaller.com/2023/02/03/pentagon-chinese-spy-balloon-latin-america/ .............